Earlier this month, ‘Rang De Basanti’ actor R. Madhavan had unveiled a riveting trailer of his upcoming directorial film ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’ based on the life of former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan, who was falsely accused of selling confidential information to foreign entities. A few years later, however, Nambi was acquitted by the Supreme Court of India.
Prior to that, the 2019 film ‘The Tashkent Files’ portrayed the conspiracy theory pertaining to former Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s mysterious death in Tashkent in January 1966. The film had received mixed reviews from critics.
And now, as per a leading publication, ‘Tanhaji’ actor ‘Saif Ali Khan’ has been reportedly roped in to play the role of the eminent scientist Homi J. Bhabha.
Tentatively titled ‘Assassination of Homi Bhabha’, the film is apparently being produced by Reliance Entertainment. Although the same is yet to be officially confirmed.
And as the title suggests, instead of focusing on Bhabha’s scientific achievements, the period-drama film would likely revolve around the longstanding mystery around the unfortunate death of the eminent scientist Homi J. Bhabha.
Padma Bhushan Award winner and Nobel Prize nominee Homi J. Bhabha was a legendary Indian scientist, regarded as the father of the Indian nuclear programme.
In an interview given to All India Radio in October 1965, Bhabha had purportedly stated that if he had the green signal, India had the capability to make a nuclear bomb in 18 months.
Incidentally, three months later i.e., on January 24, 1966, Air India’s Boeing flight Kanchenjunga crashed into Mont Blanc in the Swiss Alps. All 117 passengers including the revolutionary scientist were killed in the fateful crash.
The official reason given for the crash was a miscommunication between the aircraft pilot and Geneva airport regarding the aircraft position. However, a popular conspiracy theory that the CIA was the mastermind behind the ‘accident’ was widely speculated at that time.
Then, in the year 2008, an alleged conversation between a CIA officer and a journalist reanimated the discussions surrounding CIA’s alleged involvement behind the crash.
The prevalent theory was that America did not want India to gain nuclear capabilities. And it was opined that Bhabha had the capability to almost single-handedly lead India into becoming a nuclear superpower. Even though Bhabha purportedly advocated peaceful use of atomic energy.
The mystery surrounding the crash gained further momentum when, in 2017, a Swiss climber found some aircraft remains in the Alps. He theorized that “If Kanchenjunga had crashed in the mountain, there should have been a huge fire and explosion as there was 41,000 tonnes of fuel in the aircraft, but that was not the case. According to me, it collided with an Italian aircraft and as there is very little oxygen at that height, there was no combustion that could cause an explosion.” However, the French experts had denied this theory.
It remains to be seen that if the said film goes on the floor, what aspects of Homi J. Bhabha’s death and the conspiracy theories surrounding it will be portrayed in the film.
While Hollywood filmmakers are known for churning out some ingenious conspiracy thriller films and some eye-opening documentaries such as Will Smith’s ‘Enemy of the State’, Mel Gibson’s ‘Edge of Darkness’, Clive Owen’s ‘The International’ and the brilliant documentary film ‘Zeitgeist’.
On the other hand, Indian filmmakers are also making earnest efforts in the direction, which is evident in their ventures like the upcoming film ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’ and the yet unconfirmed project ‘Assassination of Homi Bhabha’ starring Saif Ali Khan, which we sincerely hope kicks off soon.
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